Matheson and Carter
by AntWarrior
Summary: (After Miracle Day series) Harry Oscar Wright - or "Hal" to his Etonion friends, had been on Rex's mind... and his computer screen, and his desk, deep in Torchwood's hub. The man was a mystery, and Rex later discovers a can of worms, ending up deep in the personal life of the equally cryptic Alice Carter...
1. Chapter 1

It had been a long time since Gwen and Rex has seen, or even heard of Captain Jack Harkness. After Rex's introduction to the life of immortality, Jack just seemed to disappear. Day by day he answered less questions, choosing to spend the day brooding instead. And whilst he'd organised the rebuild of the hub, deep in the belly of Cardiff Bay, he seemed to show no amount of nostalgia or joy when the secret door in the tourist shop was opened once again. And then one day, Gwen and Rex arrived at work, finding a quickly written note in the place of their boss.

 _"_ _Gone away for a bit._

 _Jack XX"_

And that was that.

The pair worked out a sort of schedule in order to keep Torchwood running. Rex would spend half his time in America with the CIA, and half his time in Cardiff with Gwen. Simple. Gwen on the other hand, decided to try the impossible – make Torchwood into a 9-5 job. Whist it was proving (extremely) hard to restrict herself in working long nights or early mornings, Gwen remembered what Jack had always said to her about keeping her normal life outside of Torchwood. When the others were there, Gwen had seen only briefly into their "normal" lives. Non-existent. Ianto was the only one with any family members left that mourned him. Well, Gwen wasn't going to be the same! She attended every parent's evening, every dance, every play little Anwen was in. She even got to pick her up from school on the occasions that no aliens were trying to invade the planet!

It all seemed to be working out fine, despite the occasional stresses and the continuous thought at the back of both Gwen and Rex's minds, "where the hell is Jack?!"


	2. Chapter 2

Rex had been following this man for a while now. Even to the point where Gwen had started teasing him about it.

"You're so obsessed with the man, why don't you just marry him?!"

"I know a way to get answers, sleep with him, you should know what he likes with all the time you spent reading up on him!"

And every time Rex pulled up the man's image on the screen…

"God, swipe right already!"

Now Rex knew that there was…nothing wrong with being gay… he just… didn't like being called it. Goddammit, he wasn't _like_ Jack! And the whole immortality thing wasn't helping him. He had Jack's blood running through him, didn't gay people have loads of illnesses?

This was the point where Gwen called him homophobic. And a douche. And many other less friendly words and names…

Anyway. Back to the man. His name was Harry Oscar Wright. Or Hal to his Etonion friends. Hal was a high flying socialite with an interest in the "supernatural". He was a benefactor and sponsor of UNIT, CIA, and several other not-so-secret, secret alien-fighting organisations. There was no doubt in Rex's mind that Hal knew about Torchwood. Why else would the man choose to live in Cardiff of all places?! I mean the man was a golfing buddy of Malcolm Merlyn before the whole earthquake business. The only reason for Hal to slum it in Cardiff must be Torchwood, Rex thought.

So why hadn't the darn man made a move. They'd been no hacking, no spying, no assassinations, no attempt to find the hub, or him and Gwen. At least, from what Rex had worked out… The man must have something planned! Hence why Rex had been watching him for so long, without success.

That was until a few days ago however. Rex logged onto the Torchwood computers to find, not just his super special and secret trackers beeping madly, but even his Google Alerts for "Hal." It was all over the news in fact. Hal was having a party. A super mega, mighty fancy party with representatives from every big conglomerate and government going. CIA, UNIT, BBC, Apple, Fox, the MET, Palmer Tec., News Corp, MI9, 10, and 11, IBM, ITV, MGM, ABC, MIT, C. of E. The man could rearrange the alphabet with this guest list.

Something was going to down. For sure. Rex just had to find a way in… maybe through the CIA invite? No, Hal was looking to invite the top of the top, not some lowdown officer, who was still in the trenches.

Rex was sat at his desk in the hub. It was still neat and tidy, with a sprinkling of post-it notes dotted around. He sat searching with his computer for a way to get in. Waiter? Driver? Crasher? He wasn't getting any inspiration, and he span around in his chair and let out a big sigh.

"Why don't we just go with Andy?" Gwen said whilst carefully carrying two mugs of coffee up the steps to Rex's desk.

"What?"

"God, did you just skip to all the fancy guests? Look," Gwen forced the mugs into Rex's hands, and grabbed the mouse, scrolling through a news article, detailing exactly who was going. After a while, she stopped and pointed at the screen. "Cardiff Police Force! And aren't you lucky that I still have my old connections there! I think I still have the handcuffs somewhere…" She let out a big single laugh in Rex's direction, turning more to the computer when Rex refused to join in the joke. She hated how serious Rex was sometimes.

"I've already texted Andy to try and sus what's happening their end. He said that they were going to send some local officers to represent the importance of community or something, anyway that's how he's going." Gwen rattled off, moving away from the computer and grabbing her mug of coffee. She sipped, and added, "There's room for us to get in. Got a tux?" Finishing with a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Rex rubbed his hands and face before finally knocking on Gwen's door. His tux may have been made up of many layers of wool and cotton, but it wasn't helping against the cold winds of the night.

Gwen's house was still the little house on the beach where Rex had first met Torchwood. Obviously being shot at by a helicopter hadn't done the house a world of good, but Jack's funds managed to cover the cost of rebuilding it completely and perfectly. It was the perfect replica of that little house.

Rex was almost going to knock again when Rhys finally opened the door.

"Oh alright, Mate? She's just coming." The two men went into shake hands, and pat each other on the back. Rex liked Rhys. The former wasn't the smartest man, but he saw through Torchwood, and more importantly Jack. He wasn't wrapped up in Jack's charisma like Gwen and everyone else seemed to be. Rex needed someone else like that, someone who could see Jack for what he was. An annoying dick.

Rhys motioned for Rex to enter the house, and offered him a place to sit, all as he was shouting upstairs to Gwen.

"Alright, Rhys! I'm coming!" She shouted back, grunting and struggling with something as she did. There was a small bang as Gwen must have knocked against something, and then suddenly she was at the top of the stairs. The two men stood dumbfounded. It wasn't very often that Gwen dressed up, but when she did…

Her hair was put up, with small ringlets falling across her forehead and shoulders. The dress was pale pink, satin, and simple with thin straps. It nearly scraped the floor as she half-ran down the stairs, throwing a small blanket at Rhys.

"Now you will remember the song, right? And if she wakes up in the night use the blanket. And is her favourite toy at the moment. And…"

"Yes! I know, Hun! I do look after her when you're at Torchwood, you know!"

"Yer, y- just- it's night, and I haven't left her like this since Miracle Day, and-"

"Gwen, go. It'll be fine. You concentrate on looking fancy, and getting on with some work,"

With a few snuggles and hugs between Gwen and Rhys, the Torchwood team finally left for the party. Well, to Andy's, and then the party. Since the SUV was gone, the pair travelled in a taxi, hoping Andy had arranged something a bit smarter. He hadn't. The three greeted one another, made awkward small talk about Torchwood, then got into the tiny, rundown hatchback.

Gwen harrumphed as Rex shuffled in next to her in the back passenger seats. They really should look into getting another Torchwood SUV…


	4. Chapter 4

"Wooow…" Andy stood there slack jawed as he gazed up at the grand entrance to Hal's place. It was a grand, old house, with huge marble pillars dotted all around. Two heavy security guards stood next to each. That was a lot of security.

"Ah, welcome, welcome..!" A greeter seemed to appear out of nowhere, dressed in what looked like an old-fashioned bell boy's suit, he even had the little hat. The man seemed to freeze as he suddenly realised he hadn't a clue who these people were. All the other people were actual important people, worth millions and billions of pounds, instantly recognisable to the greeter. But these people… wait. These most be the Cardiff Police. "Sir is delighted to have actual members of the exemplary Cardiff Police Force in attendance this evening!"

"Too much?" the man thought…

"If you'd like to follow me, please," He gestured the trio towards the entrance. Both the heavy marble doors had been set open, as a variety of guests made their way through them, all adorned in furs, satins, and jewels, and all being led by identical looking greeters. They really were identical! It's amazing what mandatory matching haircuts and uniforms can do to different men. They looked like a batch of robot servants thought Cardiff's Police Force's greeter. "We all hope that you enjoy the party. There are a variety of exhibits and events going on around the house, so be sure to circulate! You'll-"

"Well if we didn't circulate we'd die…" Andy interrupted, laughing nervously as he realised he'd made the whole group just stop and stare at him.

"Yes, very…clever, Sir-"

"You see, cos…"

"Yes, we must circulate blood in order to live, I understand… Sir." The greeter was getting fed up with these guests now, and he'd only been with them a few moments! Why did he have to get stuck with the common nobodies?! "If you're finished now, Sir, I'll continue?" Andy nodded, looking down at the floor. "You'll find these exhibits nowhere else, in fact they come from Mr. Wright's personal collection." The entrance had opened up into what would be a porch in any other house, but looked more like a grand hall in this one, with chandeliers hanging at intervals from the roof, and old master's oil paintings on the walls. "We hope you enjoy your evening here!" The greeter clasped his hands, barely waiting a beat before he paced off back to the door. Hopefully he'd get the heads of the CIA next, or something…

The trio just stood, having trouble taking it all in. The house was beautiful. The fittings, the furniture, the lightbulbs in the chandeliers, every single thing around them was beautiful, and very, _very_ expensive. Gwen thought that even Jack's seemingly unlimited bank account would struggle to cover the cost of just one item.

"Sooo guys, what's the plan?" Andy started rubbing his hands together, walking around to stand where Gwen and Rex were still staring.

"Plan?" Gwen questioned.

"Yer, the T-O-R-"

"I'm pretty sure these guys can spell, dude." Rex interrupted, before Andy gave away the entire ruse. "Look, you are not a part of us, Gwen and I will go off, you… you just enjoy the party!" He hissed, trying not to draw attention to themselves. "Come on, we've been stood here too long," He held Gwen's arm, and the two whisked off together, leaving poor Andy behind. Staring away from them as Gwen and Rex left, he went to grasp onto his body vest that he was no longer wearing, leaving his hands awkwardly resting above his chest. Andy let out a sigh.


	5. Chapter 5

Gwen and Rex had been circulating for a few hours now, and apart from a few CIA friends of Rex's, the pair had discovered nothing. The items on display varied, but they were all preserved in glass boxes, arranged on plinths and vintage tables, scattered throughout the rooms of the house. The people around Gwen and Rex seemed to gesticulate in disbelief at the items, whilst the Torchwood pair just looked unimpressed. Half the stuff was just Rift rubbish. As in literal rubbish that would fall through the Rift. Worthless. Torchwood wouldn't even bother collecting it now, there's only so much you can learn from an alien's equivalent of a crisp packet. The rest of the exhibits were old antiques, mostly from the Victorian era Rex noted.

Rex was halfway through lecturing Gwen on what he knew of a particular antique gun, when Gwen was suddenly distracted.

"Hang on, that's a Walkman." She pointed towards what was indeed, a retro-looking Sony Walkman. "What's that doing here?" Gwen stared incredulously at the device, she still had her Walkman for god's sake! Why was it next to some nearly 200 year old gun?

"Ah! I've been waiting for someone to question that!" It was then that Gwen realised that maybe she'd been speaking a bit too loudly, as an even more booming, yet more enunciated, and well-spoken, English voice spread across the room. A man then started to spring across the room. He looked about mid-30s, with short, floppy brown hair dangling around. "This is what has interested me the most recently. It's a puzzle!" The man placed his fingertips on the glass casing, and slowly lifted it up and off the Walkman. He grasped machine, placing it in Gwen's hands.

"Err, I don't think we should be doing this!" Gwen half-laughed, half-cautioned, the man.

"Oh, I'm Oscar," He went to shake Gwen's hand, realising that they were full with the Walkman. "I'm Hal's little brother. I begged for him to display this" He gestured manically at the device. "I wanted to see who would question it!"

"Right…"

"You see," He picked up the Walkman and held it closer to Gwen's face. "This was found with a bunch of stuff that was all just… wrong. I believe that my brother is showing that later. We had all the stuff dated, actual forensic tests and we calculated that this device had been used for hundreds of years!" The man's eyes grew wider, as he expected Gwen to instantly understand.

"But how-"

"Shhh!" Oscar hushed the Welshwoman.

"But how can it be hundreds of years old, Walkmans came out in '80s?" The pair whispered now.

"1979 actually. And yes, exactly what I thought. But the amount of cracks and fades, the way the materials had decayed. Even the amount of dirt, just general dirt, the oils from people's fingers. Even the _type_ of dirt – smog, coal. The same type of pollutant that something like that antique gun would have, does have!"

"So-"

"So this Walkman is 100s of years old! It's a time travelling Walkman!" Oscar's eyes were wide now, his hair even messier then it once was, gripping the device uncontrollably. Gwen stared between it and the man's eyes, trying to laugh slightly to fill the dramatic silence that the man was now leaving.

"You don't really believe in all that stuff, do you?" She scoffed, reminding herself that she was meant to be a Cardiff Police Officer, _not_ a Torchwood operative. The man's face seemed to drop slightly.

"Oh, umm…" He placed the Walkman back on the plinth, lifting the glass casing back over it. "Er, um,"

"Um, Gwen, I think something's happening in the main hall," Rex had joined Gwen now, he'd preferred to stay out of the conversation with the weird man, but he could see that now even Gwen need a social rescue. And besides, more and more of the guests had started to make their way back to the hall. It must be time for speeches, maybe Rex would get to meet the man himself. Harry Oscar Wright.


	6. Chapter 6

The amount of guests really hit Gwen and Rex now. They'd managed to make their way to the main hall, and it was full of people. There was also a giant staircase in the middle of it all, leading up to the higher, cut-off areas of the house. The people around them were bustling, making business deals that would affect countries all over the world, whilst the Torchwood pair remained to themselves, just listening in to the conversations around them.

That's probably why they were caught so unaware when a woman started talking to them.

"And who do you represent then?" She smirked, hand on hip. Both Rex and Gwen were taken aback by her. The woman looked in her late 30s, and stunningly beautiful with sharp, tough features. Even her eyes seemed harsh, which was probably exaggerated by the winged eyeliner. Her black hair was mostly pulled off her face in big rolls, similar to Gwen's in a way, but the ringlets that fell down were more intricate, and her hair gleamed in the lights of the chandeliers. She somehow looked like her hair naturally fell in that way.

The dress she wore was another thing. She looked like she'd gotten it straight out of an old Hollywood film, Gwen thought. Like from the '40s and '50s. Those were the dresses that her mother would idolise, and would never hope on owning. It had a sweetheart neckline, and was tight, super tight, all the way down, and suddenly tapering out around the knees down to the floor. In the tapers were grand swags of material, all bundled up with what looked like tiny golden gems sewn in. No. Gwen squinted and refocused on them. They were buttons, little golden buttons, like from a coat, like from Jack's…

"Are you lot just gonna stare?" She raised an eyebrow at them.

"Oh, ummm-" Gwen stuttered.

"We're from Cardiff, Cardiff Police" Rex interrupted. There was something about the woman that made both of them seem different. Like they were being watched very closely. "And what about you? You don't sound like you're from around here,"

The girl feigned a mock offended look, "I'll have you know a lot of money was spent to make me sound like this. I'd sound all American like you, if it was left to it" She smirked at Rex again.

Gwen was suddenly feeling like a 3rd wheel now, so she was glad when heavy bells started to sound around them, hushing the room.

This was Hal then.

In the silence of the crowd, Hal paraded down the stairs. It was an image that Rex had become familiar with, with his days researching the man. His black hair was scraped over to the side. Rex found it hard to believe that anybody still used Brylcreem, but this man was definitely keeping them in business. He was dressed in what looked like a vintage Tux, he even had a pocket square and a posh cravat going on. Matching, of course.

"Ladies, Gentlemen! Welcome!" He held a glass of champagne up to the crowd, pretending to clink his glass. "I hope you've all had a chance to explore my wonderful home, and its many wonders that I have placed in it, for you, tonight!" God, this man was as egotistic as Jack, Rex thought. "Now," Hal started to walk down the stairs. "I suppose you're all _really_ wondering why you're here tonight, and that, my friends, is a very special reason. Tonight, I'm going to show you a very special part of my collection."

On this note, a section of the room that had been cordoned off with a giant curtain, revealed itself. As the crowd took in the attraction, there was a disappointed gasp of surprise. But to Gwen, the world seemed to zoom in on her, as she whispered to herself "Fuckin'. Hell."

It was the SUV. It was polished and sparkling under the special lights positioned specifically to illuminate the car. Every scuff and mark seemed to be exaggerated, it looked like it'd been through wars. Gwen supposed it sort of had.

"I'm sure a number of you will recognise it, but for those who don't. This is the SUV used by Cardiff's own little team of alien fighters – Torchwood!" All the special blues-and-twos lights suddenly lit up on the car. There was a small ripple of applause. "And that's not all, inside the car you'll find a variety of items USED by the Torchwood team throughout the centuries of its existence!" He stopped. "Especially items used by the current leader of Torchwood – Captain Jack Harkness, who I'm sure all of you are familiar with," he chuckled to himself, "Though perhaps you'd prefer for me to refer to him as World War 2." A larger chuckle spread throughout the room, one that seemed to rock Rex to his core.

"And finally, there is another reason why you're all here. Because I have the greatest item of any collection," He held out a hand towards the crowd. Towards Gwen and Rex in fact. They held their breath, and slowly started to move their hands towards their hidden guns… "Alice."

The woman that they'd been talking to, stepped forward, and then paused, before walking towards Hal, and taking his hand.

"Hal, what is this?" She whispered to him, trying to disguise her nervousness.

He got down on one knee.

He pulled a ring box from his inside pocket.

"Alice Carter,"

He opened the box, presenting the ring inside to her.

"It's cut from the Koh-i-Noor, like your mother's was. In fact, it is your mother's, I found it in the rubble," He was smiling, he was so, so happy. And his little tale of the ring made the whole hall of partygoers go "aww." "Alice Carter? Will you marry me? Please?" He almost chuckled at the last word.

"Um… n- urgh," Alice stuttered. She was flustered, something Rex thought unimaginable, despite only knowing her a few seconds. "No." She almost whispered now, and she repeated her answer more clearly for him.

"What…" The guy was heartbroken. "But… but you have to, that's part of the contract!" He shouted the last word. His guest now were trying to look anywhere _but_ the unhappy couple, except a few nosey members, and Gwen and Rex, of course. "You want your son back don't you?! UNIT aren't just going to give him back to you, even though he is just a corpse!" Alice slapped him. She grabbed him by the hair, pulling him up.

"Don't you dare say something like that!" She screamed, before throwing him back to the ground. She ripped the various bits of jewellery from her. The necklace, a bracelet, earrings. "I can't do this anymore!" She turned around to face the dumbfounded audience, "This is a sham, and you can all go home now. Anyone from UNIT is welcome to stay and discuss the fact that you are holding onto my son's dead body in the vague, absurd hope that he is somehow immortal. Goodnight." Alice seemed to sway as she moved, but she ran into the crowd nevertheless, and the audience parted for her.


	7. Chapter 7

"Alice!" Rex called out as a few minutes after her escape from the hall, slowly following in her tracks. "Alice, Alice wait up!" He called again, finally catching up with her. "You've got a stop, what's all this beef with UNIT, hell, what the hell is _all_ of this?!"

"It's not for you, it's not for Torchwood, ok?" She stopped in her tracks, brandishing off Rex's pleas. "You and your associate shouldn't even be here." At the mention of an "associate" Gwen appeared, her now bedraggled dress dragging along the floor.

"What the hell is going on?!" Gwen shouted in her gruffest, strongest voice. "Rex, what the hell are you doing?!" She added as an aside to the man.

"Wait, Gwen! How do you know we're Torchwood?" A subtle way of telling Gwen to shut the fuck up.

"Oh, come on! You're so obvious. You always are, you Torchwood agents. Now go," The woman seemed almost relaxed, jovial, and certainly not like she'd just run out of a hall from a proposing boyfriend, whilst surrounded by 1%-ers. Alice continued walking out of the huge house, various greeters tried to approach her as they waited by the doors, but all thought better of it. Torchwood stood and stared. Mesmerised by this strange woman.

That was until all the doors of the house were suddenly sprung open, and kicked down. Men in black Kevlar, machine guns and helmets stormed out. Even through the doors of the main hall the trio just came from. Big lights came through the windows from what were most likely helicopters, the grand windows smashed in, and more men in matching uniforms came swinging in. That's when the deafening alarms could be heard. Screaming. Screeching. So nauseatingly loud, Rex and Gwen seemed to fall against each other, propping each other before vaguely trying to grab their guns.

It was all to no avail as the pair passed out, and the room around them went black.


	8. Chapter 8

"ALICE! HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS?! HOW COULD YOU?! THIS IS NOT YOUR LIFE! THIS IS NOT YOUR KIND OF MISSION. I DEAL WITH THIS STUFF! YOU, YOU HAVE A _NORMAL_ LIFE!"

Gwen and Rex woke to the sound of shouting. Screaming, in fact, comparative to the alarms that they'd last heard. But as they came to, feeling a cold hard floor beneath them, narrow streams of light coming through barred windows, and the background of water running and dripping down the equally cold hard walls, they seemed to zone back into reality. And back into that oh-so-familiar voice.

"Jack?" Gwen tried to shout, a croaky whisper replacing her Welsh vowels.

"Shhh, shh…" Jack came almost running over to her from some unknown place of shadows. He placed a finger to her lips, whilst gently stroking down her now matted hair. He seemed to glance over her body, feeling the rest of her face, moving it from side to side. "Ok, Gwen, you can focus on me can't you?" He swayed his head like some kind of clown, Gwen following his every move. "Good, don't try and talk, just… just stay here, don't move, yer?"

"Jack, you're back…" Gwen whispered drowsily.

Jack chuckled, gently knocking Gwen on the chin before turning his attention to the recovering Rex.

"Did you chain us up?" Rex's voice sounded equally hoarse, despite his immortality. This is also when Gwen noticed the chains between them, locking her's and Rex's hands together, connecting to the wall behind them. She moved her head slowly to look over to Rex. Whilst she was sat up against the wall, a knitted shawl now placed over her shoulders, Rex appeared to be more curled up on the floor. "What the hell is this?"

"I'm sorry Gwen, Rex, I really am. I tried to hold off for as long as possible, hoping it wouldn't come to this but…" His voice trailed off, with what seemed like regret and sadness. Rex and Gwen had never seen Jack like this, not really. He seemed almost deflated, his shoulders slacking, his eyelids heavy, with dark circles underneath them.

"How many years has it been for you?" Gwen asked, slowly regaining her voice.

Jack stood up now, letting out a sigh. "Not many, I tried to keep roughly in time with you,"

"Where's that woman?" Rex asked.

"Don't worry about her. She's not gonna try _anything_ like that again." He seemed to glance towards the shadows from where he came. Just for a second. "I had to… neutralise the situation, it was too dangerous for you, all of you, to continue, with it. It's a good job those people were wearing helmets, I would have needed a _lot_ more retcon to deal with that then!" Jack laughed now, attempting to return to his jovial manner. "You stay here now, I just have a few more things to deal with,"

That was when they heard a giggle, and Jack's face dropped. Realising the ruse was up, the woman stepped out of the shadows.

"God, they worship you. It's what they all say, I know, but to see it…" The woman still wore her magnificent dress, her hair still perfectly styled, but Jack's great coat hung over her shoulders. She crossed her arms, her whole silhouette looking imposing in the low-light, but her voice was gentle and soft. "I'm sorry, that whole thing is just a contingency, a plan if I get too Torchwood-y. You shouldn't have been there," She walked a few more paces towards them. "God, if Hal had known you were there…" She laughed, cocking her head to the side to study the pair chained up on the floor "you'd be in someone else's dungeon right now,'"

"Alice." Jack said sternly. "We'll talk about this privately."

"If you think I'm going anywhere privately with you, think again. Whatever you're going to say, say it in front of them."

"Jack, who is she?"

"Gwen…" He squatted down and started to undo the chains. "I told you a long time ago, I'm surprised you didn't work it out, knowing you," She looked confused, as the chains finally came undone. Gwen and Rex stayed sat down. Despite some time passing from when they'd woken up, they were still feeling far too groggy to stand up just yet. Far too groggy in fact, as the pair once again passed out.


	9. Chapter 9

The next time Gwen and Rex woke up they'd been moved to the glass conference room in the hub. It was the room that looked out over the entire rest of the main hub area, the only place where you couldn't look into, was Jack's office. The pair had been sat in the chairs, but had slumped forward onto the big glass table since.

The pair stayed silent for just a beat longer than socially normal, before Rex couldn't take it anymore.

"What did Jack mean? … he told you a long time ago… that you'd kn-"

"I don't know" Gwen seemed to shake, she looked totally on edge despite being in the familiar glow of the Torchwood hub. She was still in her fancy evening dress, but now it was torn and tattered, her makeup blotchy, and her hair knotted. Rex's tux looked equally wrinkled and ruffled, with dark bags developing under his eyes. "I don't even know if it's day or night, Rex… That woman is just bad news, there's just something about her,"

"Yer, she's pretty fuckin' hot," Rex relaxed back in his chair, closing his eyes in tiredness and reminiscence.

Gwen slapped him.

"Rex this is serious, this is wrong, something is wrong with Jack, with that girl, with all of this…"

"You're getting paranoid now, and there's always "something wrong with Jack"!"

Gwen hit Rex again.

"C'mon, I've had enough of being drugged up, knocked unconscious, and by God I want to get out of this fucking dress!" Gwen slammed her hands against the table, making the whole room shake, and launching herself up onto her feet, ready to go storming off to give Jack a piece of her mind – her very tired, frustrated mind.

She burst open the glass door before Rex could even stand up in an attempt to contain the raging Gwen Cooper. He shouted after her, causing the two figures standing on the floor of the hub to stop their conversation.

"Gwen!" Jack seemed underprepared, and reached his hands out to try and contain Gwen from going any further.

"Jack, I couldn't stop her - "

"It's alright, Rex." Jack grabbed Gwen, with both strong hands clutching into her shoulders. "Gwen, I'll explain later -"

"No, you're explaining now, alright?!"

"GWEN! GO HOME! NOW!" Jack wasn't leaving Gwen with any choices. She grabbed the trail of her dress, swiping up her purse which had been placed on one of the desks.

"I always thought Owen was overdramatic every time he walked out of here, but tonight I'm starting to understand his point of view a lot more clearly. That guy, Hal Wright, he had everything from us, he had the SUV under a bloody spotlight! It made it look like all a huge game, like it was some part of a stupid TV show or something! And this is what it's all become hasn't it?! Just look at tonight! I'm in a ball-gown tied up in a basement, with bloody Miss. Femme Fatale over there!"

"Femme Fatale?" Jack raised an eyebrow, Gwen still stomping and pacing around, even more annoyed that Jack had chosen to interrupt her on such a small part of her story.

"Jack that's not the important bit! Aren't you listening to me while I'm storming out?!"

"Gwen, just go home, it's late, I've rang Rhys don't worry, just…. I'll see you in the morning, ok?"

Gwen walked towards Jack, making one last attempt to clear everything up, pausing to look into his eyes. They looked so old, so out of place on his still youthful face. Gwen knew she wasn't going to get anything out of Jack, and with a sigh turned away from him, finally making her way to leave the hub.

"Rex, you go too." Jack crossed his arms, and paid a quick glance up at the bemused man. Rex's head was hurting, and he was so tired, he could imagine nothing better than the comforting layers of his double bed back at home.

"I'll see you pretty girl," He nodded towards the mysterious women, knowing deep in his heart that he'd never see the girl again. Jack would make her disappear for good this time. No more Torchwood for her. Rex made his way towards the giant sliding door of the hub, and he and Gwen took the stairs up to the top together.


	10. Chapter 10

Rex's head was still pounding when he arrived at his front door. It was still pounding when he made his way into the lift, and up towards his apartment. And it pounded even more when he attempted to bury his head in his duvet, but Rex was soon off to sleep. It was something about that women, he thought, picturing her in every detail he could remember, as his eyes actually managed to close without the need for his normal cocktail of sleeping pills.

As he slept, Rex was very much looking forward to the possibility of a lie-in as well. Jack and Gwen needed time to stew, and Rex was staying out of that mess for sure! Honestly, they were as bad as an old married couple, and seemed to be always having tiffs. But they always, no " _forgave_ " is the wrong word, " _moved_ _on_ " together. "I killed your husband" "I killed you" "You're responsible for my husband and baby being kidnapped" "You kidnapped me", endless. But they continued, they were united, and Rex, and the whole of Cardiff, couldn't imagine the pair any other way. It was sweet really… No. No it wasn't. It was bloody annoying, Rex reminded himself.

His sweet dreams of a lie-in however were dashed when he awoke in the morning. His phone was ringing as he tossed and turned, arms flailing, trying to work out exactly where his phone was.

"Hello?" He croaked when he eventually reunited himself with the device, answering the call without even checking the ID.

"Rex, where are you?! It's 11am, why aren't you here. Working." A grumpy Jack, jerking Rex to wake up just that little bit more.

"Listen, I assumed -"

"Assumed what? That I was just gonna give you the day off?!" Rex could practically hear Jack's eyebrows raising.

"Well you haven't exactly been around a lot lately, have you? For all I know, you could have left again last night!"

"No. It's different now. I want you to fill me on this Hal guy, Gwen says you've been stalking him,"

"I haven't been stalking!"

"Well, get down here, and tell your side of the story. Your files are indecipherable, how the CIA are still employing you is beyond belief, maybe I should have a word with your employers."

"Alright Jack, I'm coming!"

Jack getting all bureaucratic always freaked Rex out. It reminded him that Jack must have actual paperwork or something to do. Rex and Gwen got paid somehow, the hub got electricity and wifi, someone was doing paperwork! Jack was doing it, the tool that Rex ever so slightly despised probably had a desk drawer with spare staples in it. And all sorts of black ink pens for writing in all capitals on dotted lines. The idea of WW2 doing paperwork sent more shivers down Rex's spine than the constant presence of weevils.

Rex slumped his way into work again. Gwen was sat at her desk, typing away at her computer. She seemed oblivious to Rex entering, however as he drew closer to her, she spoke to him.

"Jack wants to speak to you in the office." She didn't even look, and her voice was completely monotone.

Rex silently turned, and made his way towards the steps to Jack's office. It was going be a long day, Rex thought to himself…

Rex filled Jack in on all the info he'd collected on Hal, as well as all the recall he'd done the night of the party, and together the two men compiled a file on the man.

"So, he's a Torchwood fan. I may not be the best to admit this, but we're not exactly the most secret of secret organisations," Jack remarked, leaning on the back legs of his chair, rubbing his temples. Launching full swing back into Torchwood life may not have been the best choice for him.

"Well you did pretty well getting rid of all the CIA files on you. Even I can't add anything to the databases about Torchwood,"

Jack smirked to himself. "Yer, that was a clever bit I did on your servers, wasn't it," He chuckled. Jack's behaviour was causing Rex to question whether yesterday had really happened at all. Jack was just as he always was, making stupid remarks at Rex's expense, let along actually mentioning it.

"Look, why don't you get Gwen to try and contact the brother. Try and work out the exact set-up he has,"

"Hal?" Rex interrupted.

"No, weren't you listening?!" Jack grabbed a print out of Oscar's face, "The brother! He knew something was up about the Walkman. I want to know as much as possible about him, how his mind works,"

"But why him? The brother's not the one we should be looking at! It was a fuckin' Walkman." Rex threw his hands up in the air, exasperated with everyone's fascination with the thing.

"No, the brother was right. The Walkman _is_ different."

"For God sake!"

"Rex! Listen, it's my Walkman. When I was travelling with the Time Agency I'd leave myself little home comforts so that if I ever got stuck, or bored in that time again, I could go find the thing I'd left for myself. So I was travelling around, found a Walkman and left it somewhen even further in the past for myself. Little did I know that my little bit of fun was gonna come in so useful when I find myself stranded in Victorian times, craving a bit of Glenn Miller. And he knew. The brother knew it was wrong. That's why we _need_ to look into _him_ instead!"

Rex stared bemused for a second. "You fuckin' WW2. Glenn Miller on a bloody Walkman…" He spoke through closed teeth to himself, gathering some papers, and making his way to brief Gwen.


	11. Chapter 11

"He bloody what?!" Again Rex explained the Walkman. "But, but… Right, but how did Oscar get his hands on it?"

"Jack must have lost it at some point I guess"

"Jack…" Gwen went to say something, but seemed to change her mind halfway through, and just sighed instead. "Am I the only one who can't focus, Rex?"

Rex looked straight into her eyes, "I can't even think…"he perched on Gwen's desk, and rubbed his temples. He was tired, confused… "Fancy going on a date with Oscar?"

"What?!" Gwen suddenly snapped to life.

"The guy is a typical shy nerd, if you asked him out he'd tell you everything, his entire life, every secret, just in shock of an actual person asking him out,"

"Rex, don't be stupid!"

"Why, tell me one reason why that wouldn't work?"

"Well… and… oh, fuck it, I'll try and find some contact information on the poor sod," Gwen span in her chair and started to type on her computer, wishing that her dating days were behind her.

And Rex was right, Oscar didn't even seem to question how Gwen got his number, she didn't explicitly say it was a _romantic_ date either, just _it would be nice to chat_ … but it seemed to be enough for Oscar to barely manage to stumble out a date and time, a nice and posh romantic restaurant… at Hal's house.

Although Gwen had taken the time to absorb every detail of the house from the night before, tonight it seemed totally different. There was barely any floodlighting, and instead of having the front of the house bathed in a heavenly golden glow, the house seemed to be illuminated like a teenager holding a torch under their chin. Every rough pore of the house seemed exaggerated, causing it to look almost like the house was in a state of disrepair. There was no uptight bell boy coming to escort her, instead what looked like a retired security guard from a crappy nightclub stood by her car door, waiting for Gwen to open it. When she did, the guard whispered into his sleeve, and wondered off. She stood, bemused and lost with it all, until a tiny figure appeared through the massive doors.

"Gwen!" He shouted, waving his hand in the air. It was Oscar, still looking like a ruffled mess, his hair blowing and tangling in the breeze. "Come in!" He beckoned her in, before disappearing into the house.

Gwen laughed to herself incredulously, before following him in. The insides of the house seemed to be in an even further state of broken as the windows that Jack's helpers had burst through last night were boarded up, the floor was dirty with the tracks of army boots, and miscellaneous pieces of jewellery and watches left by the scattered guests.

"Sorry for the mess! Hal didn't really feel like it, well, he doesn't clean anyway, but he fired all the staff that do, well all the staff really apart from a few, like that security guard, and that's because I hired him this morning." He gestured around the room, rubbing his hands together nervously somehow at the same time, "to cut a long story short, you know exactly what I mean, don't you?" He asked nervously, realising he was rambling.

"Hal not take it well?"

He chuckled nervously again, in a wordless response. "Here, follow me," Oscar started to walk towards the corner of the room, where an ornate door was positioned. It laid slightly ajar, and Gwen could just about make out a small table, with some 2 long candles stood in the centre. The rest of the closed off room seeming dark in comparison.

"Listen, Oscar," Gwen tried to reach out to the man, but he was already bounding towards the door, disappearing through the crack of it. She sighed, this man, this very nice and lovely man, was going to be played.


	12. Chapter 12

The dinner was small but fancy. Chicken mixed with something on a bed of rice, with those strange vegetable-looking things scattered throughout it. By desert, a small slice of chocolate torte, the food was all the Gwen could focus on without falling asleep. Oscar, whilst he had a bizarre and random speaking habit, which at first listen appeared to be alerting at the very least, on repeat became extremely repetitive and infuriating to Gwen. And Rex was so right. Oscar was indeed pouring out his entire life story. His entire life, from that kid who pushed him off the swing, to the Jock tool on his Uni campus, and the scary woman in charge of the chicken now, that Hal had fired. Lucky Gwen had chosen to secretly record him, meaning she didn't have to pay attention quite as much as she needed to.

"But what about Hal's wife? I'm a sucker for a bit of gossip!" Gwen interrupted, pushing her cutlery to the middle of her plate. "Or, would-be wife, rather,"

"Oh, well, I, I don't know much about her, really. I mean, we spoke, at parties -"

"Are you telling me that you rattled around this big ol' house all alone, only seeing one another at parties?!"

"No, well, me and Hal, we have some rooms, like labs, where we look through all the wreckage we find, and, we're together then, we work together, but, but -"

"Alice didn't work with you, you didn't see her except from at parties? You don't think that sounds a bit suspicious?"

"What you think my brother was keeping her locked up somewhere and only let her out for parties or something?"

Gwen's eye lit up.

"No, no, that was a joke!" Oscar stood up from the table, crunching up his napkin and throwing it onto his plate. "Look, I know you're Torchwood, I just thought… I thought you'd be different, you'd want to talk with me, discuss with me, important things! But your mind, you're not special, not really! You just want Hal!"

"What about the Walkman, Oscar?!" Gwen stayed in her seat, however she moved her right hand slowly towards her gun in her back waistband, until it was left hovering over it. "You said that I was the only one to spot that, lets discuss _that_ , ok?"

"No!" Oscar started loosening the tie around his neck, maybe Gwen should have been paying more attention to how much the couple had drunk, more specifically how much Oscar had drunk.

Just then, two guard came through a door hidden off somewhere in the room, dressed like the one that had signalled her arrival. She relaxed slightly as they seemed to take Oscar's shoulders in a form of restraint, but they suddenly turned, toppling the table onto its side, and reaching out for her. She kicked the first attacker away, before spinning on her heels and grabbing the gun from her waistband, all in one seamless movement. She held them at gun point, all of them breathing heavily apart from Oscar, who seemed to have slumped himself against the fallen table.

"You won't be able to run, Torchwood," he drunkenly giggled. "I paid for these men, I paid for the fancy presents of their partners, the cars in their driveways, the mortgages of their homes, and the university funds of their children. They will make sure that you won't escape."

"Over my dead body, Posh boy," She kicked the remaining chair towards the shins of the guards, and ran. She couldn't get through the door through which she'd first arrived, it was blocked by the table, so she ran through the rest of the room, pushing aside the rest of the table and chairs that littered the room. She scanned quickly around the room searching for doors, but the lights were dimmed, and she could hear the men making a path to catch her. She turned her head to fire off more shows randomly towards the guards, in the hope of distracting them, but instead she felt strong arms burst through more hidden doors, seemingly all around her as more guards piled into the room.

She finally caught a glimpse of a door handle, scrambling her hand around it, and dragging herself inside it. She paused briefly, resting against the door she'd shut on the guards, before eyeing up the mysterious corridor she had entered into. Quickly handling a heavy chest of drawers, Gwen dragged it up against the door, which had already started to break under the attack of the guards. She ran, and ran and ran and ran, the corridor going on endlessly. She gasped when the guards finally broke down the door, and barrelled after her. Her delay tactic had given her a significant head start, but Gwen knew that they would soon catch up.

She reached into her jean pocket and pulled out her communication device, fumbling it around in her ear before it finally sat in place. She pressed the "on" button.

"Oscar was a bad idea!" She shouted down the line.

"Gwen? What's up?! Why are you out of breath?! …Are you running?!" Jack's voice was merely pricked with worry.

"Yes, I'm bloody running! I took the lenses, turn on the computer and you'll see, just get me out of this house!"

"Ok…" Gwen heard the tapping of the keyboards, as Jack tried to tune into the contact lenses' program. "I've got you Gwen, _and_ the schematics of the house, it's a good thing I put that locator on the comms,"

"What?!"

"Just keep running! Then you'll get to the end of the corridor, and it'll turn, and please God, Gwen, turn. After this turning there'll be a small door-like thing along the section. You'll have to go through there,"

"And why are you saying it like that? All, apologetic?"

"It's an old Victorian maid entrance. It's small, very small, and dark, and must likely full of mould, and dropping rainwater. Believe me, I used to use them all the time. Some would go on for what seemed like miles, luckily for you this is a relatively short one. Reach the end, and you'll come out at an entrance on the other side of the house. Rex is in the car, he'll be there to pick you up,"

The comms went silent, as Jack abruptly ended the conversation. With a new inspiration, Gwen ran, more determined. She heard the guards getting ever closer, getting angrier, shouting obscenities after her. But Gwen kept running, now with her arms outstretched, feeling for the door along the crooked walls of the corridor system. She almost ran past it, before she noticed the rough stone turn to empty metal bars. She grabbled at them, yanking it open. It obviously hadn't been opened for decades, but Gwen managed to squeeze herself through the tiny opening she'd managed, pulling it to as soon as she'd gotten to the other side. The guards would never guess she'd gone done here.

But Jack was right, Gwen had to bend, almost crawl through certain parts of the corridor where it was so small. Rats had made it their playground, and squealed and screamed at Gwen's disruption. Cobwebs hung all around and across the path, sticking to Gwen's face. It is safe to say that Gwen was not having the best time, but after a while she managed to reach the end. She scrambled out of the creaking wooden door, and was almost dazzled by Rex's bright headlights.

"I don't think they followed me, now let's go!" She ran around to the passenger side of the car, jumping into the seat, before Rex pulled away, kicking up the grass beneath the wheels.


	13. Chapter 13

"Have you watched the footage yet?" Gwen counted her lucky stars that she'd made the decision to always keep some spare clothes at the hub. She now wondered through it, rubbing the cobwebs out of her hair with an old towel, and shouted over to Rex and Jack.

"We should talk to the girl, she would know the rest of this story," Rex lent over Jack's shoulder, as the two men crammed themselves around the computer, watching back the footage Gwen had recorded of her "date."

"No. No way. We're not getting her involved in this."

"Jack, she is involved! Whether you like it or not!" Gwen pleaded with him.

"That man kept her locked up in a basement, Jack. What person wouldn't want revenge for something like that? She'll know something, or just go and involve _herself_."

"And didn't she say she was doing it for her son? What mother would stop now?"

"If we involve her now, we can at least control her."

"I don't care what you both think, she is _not_ Torchwood, she is _not_ getting involved!" Jack rose from his seat at the desk, rising above his two employees. "We're going after this another way! I want inside on that house now! I want to get as close to the brothers as possible without even touching them, is that understood?!"

Gwen and Rex nodded, and the Torchwood trio split. Jack stormed off to his office, the other two to their desks. They had a lot of work to do.


	14. Chapter 14

Rex was starting to miss the days when Jack was away. He'd only been back two days, and both days Rex had worked long into the night, only leaving the hub when he became beyond tired. But this night, instead of returning straight home, he decided to stop by the cheapest, fattiest-looking, late-night fast food café he could find. It wasn't long before he started across a whole street full of them, in the end, Rex chose the second busiest one. It wasn't too crowded to be loud and infuriating to the sober patrons, yet full of enough drunk people for Rex to sit and eat unwatched.

He ordered some kind of burger with a stupid name, and a bundle of straggly chips, and sat in one of the tables near the back of the restaurant. He lent back against the squeaking seat, started to pick at his food, and sighed. Closing his eyes for brief seconds, whilst scanning around the rest of the café.

A group of parents, with lots of small children running amok, screaming, hyped up on their happy meals, and the excitement of being up well passed their bedtime. Or maybe this was normal for them? The usual drunks gorging and throwing around food after a night on the town, gaggles of girls in short dresses, and boys in tight jeans, shirtless and sweating. And finally, groups of teenagers and children, huddled in small groups, chatting and gossiping. As Rex finally finished his view of the room, he came across one individual that sat in silence, hiding in plain sight like himself. Alice Carter.

"Hello, pretty girl," Rex walked towards her table with his tray of food in his arms, almost whispering his greeting. "I thought I'd never see you again?"

She chomped angrily on her chips, before throwing the remaining part of her chip down onto its packaging on the table.

"If you're gonna try and talk to me all night you might as well sit down." She said, without looking up. Rex placed his tray of food down, and sat opposite the mysterious woman.

"You've changed?"

Alice raised an eyebrow at him, whilst continuing to chain-eat her chips.

"I'm no fashion man like Jack, but last evening you were wearing a thousand pound dress, whilst surrounded by the richest, most influential people in the world, and now you're sitting in McDonald's with me,"

"Don't be stupid," Alice paused in her eating, and lent back against her chair, crossing her arms. "It's not McDonald's, it's a cheap, probably copyright-infringing recreation of McDonald's."

Rex chuckled, "Well you know all the conversation topics, don't you?"

"You started it." She continued eating, taking a big bite of her burger. "I love it all the same. You're right, I haven't had this type of food in ages, it… reminds me of happier times. I've missed it, you know." She looked up at him.

"And I thought it'd be harder to get a story out of you than that,"

Alice smiled, "My mother didn't agree with acts of secrecy, she told everything as it was, made her a very good spy,"

"Really?"

"Well, until she told whoever she was spying on that she was spying on them. But she was very useful to whoever was employing her, talk for days about the smallest of details she'd discovered, she could."

Rex picked up some of his chips, and raised an eyebrow, "As you're being all honest, perhaps you're gonna tell me how you know Jack?" Alice's slowly developing smile dropped at the mention of his name. "No, he's not my favourite character either, if I never saw him again it would be too soon,"

"You don't mean that," Alice looked down at her half-eaten tray of food.

"And why's that,"

"All of you Torchwood lot are the same. You love him, even if at times you hate him. I've seen it before, the ones that say they're different from the flock, when the time comes they follow, like you will,"

"The guy is an annoying fuck, a brooding innuendo-filled tool," Alice laughed at Rex's remark, "see, now you're in a better mood…"

"I'm afraid, Rex, that whilst my mother totally hated secrecy, my father's entire personality revolved around it. I am made of both of them, and have inherited just a portion of that love of secrecy,"

"Let me guess, this secrecy comes into effect once you talk about Torchwood?"

"Starting to understand why you're a Torchwood agent now, you're like bloody Sherlock Holmes(!)"

"Yer, alright!" Rex paused in his conversation, seeing the woman's seemingly always harsh eyes starting to sparkle with her smile. "And what do your genes do when I wanna talk about Hal?"

"My son was killed when under UNIT supervision. They took it upon themselves to take his poor body. They think he is immortal, that one day he'll wake up, repaired, and they could use him as a super soldier, for information, whatever. I want him back. I buried an empty coffin, and I want him back. Not necessarily alive, just back."

"Not necessarily?"

"It would be naïve to say I didn't wish to be able to hold him against me again, see the smile on his face, his laugh, his joy, but it would be evil to wish immortality on him."

The pair sat together in silence for a few minutes, both knowing the truth of her words. Throughout history, even by the Three Families' reasoning, immortality was the best gift. It drove people to murder, to waste their lives searching, to do terrible things just to get a glimpse of it. Rex knew better, and somehow so did Alice.

"I'll help you."

"What?" Alice seemed unprepared for their silence to be broken.

"I'll help you get your son back. Not Torchwood, me, I will,"

Alice lent closer to Rex's face across the table, "You know nothing about me, yet you're prepared to take on UNIT with me?"

"It's the only way to do it," Rex lent back and smirked.


	15. Chapter 15

Alice, as Rex somehow expected, was very good at sex. It hadn't taken the pair long to make their way back to Rex's flat, for him to fumble with his keys, whilst Alice traced her soft hands around his neck and down his chest. For Alice to take a seat on the modern décor bar stools Rex owned, whilst he poured whiskey, eventually leading to glasses of wine. The rest of their conversation seemed to be a blur, full of smirking back and forths, glimpses of troubled childhoods and unsuccessful adulthoods from both speakers. The pair didn't think ahead, even to what the next morning would be like as they crawled their hands over each other's bodies, staring into troubled eyes and endless glasses of wine. The pair seemed in tune, different to Rex's normal throwaway sleeping partners. They kissed lovingly in Rex's kitchen, passionately on his sofa, and repeatedly in his bedroom.

"We can destroy them, can't we?" Alice gasped mid-thrust. Rex threw them both aside, rolling on top of the woman.

"We can decimate them, raise them to the ground," Rex whispered back to her.


	16. Chapter 16

The next morning, Rex awoke to an empty bed. The sheets were still crumpled, with clothes disregarded across the floor. Rex stopped and listened, he could still hear someone, walking around in the kitchen perhaps. He ventured out his room, grabbing his pyjama trousers out of his wardrobe. He stood in the doorway leading from his bedroom to the open plan of the rest of his flat, and there she was. Alice was sat on his sofa, her feet stretched out onto the footrest, she was wearing his shirt, which just came down to the top of her thighs, sat eating some cereal she'd found in the very small supply of food Rex actually kept in his flat. She looked the image of any beautiful actress from a film.

"I had a shower, I hope you don't mind but I used some of your shower stuff," Alice spoke without even looking at him. She seemed to have her eyes half closed, gazing off into the flat, watching the reflections of the window. The raining cityscape of Cardiff. She looked peaceful, Rex thought, beautifully so.

And then the bubble seemed to burst. Rex's phone rang out loud, vibrating further on the marble of his kitchen top, where Rex had discarded his mobile the night before.

"That'll be Jack, wondering why I'm not at work yet," He tried to chuckle.

"But what about the shower?"

"The shower? Oh, you used my things right, yer, that's fine, don't worry about it," Rex had been so caught up in the image presented before him, that he'd glazed over the fact that she'd asked a question.

"Will you leave soon?"

"Do you want me to?" Rex smirked.

"Oh, come on," Alice moved to sit upright, placing her bowel of cereal onto the footstall instead. "I thought you had better lines than that,"

"What?! It was good!" Rex mocked, taking a place next to her on the sofa, ignoring the ringing phone. "But really, it's up to you. For you, I'll ignore Jack, give myself a well-earnt day off,"

Alice raised a disbelieving eyebrow, and as the couple seemed to sit back and relax on the sofa, half-embracing one another, they were interrupted by a chaotic banging on the door. Really more like a slapping on the thin door.

"Jack already?" Alice laughed.

"No, no it's something different..." Alice tried to stop herself, but a proud smile seemed to spread across her face as Rex's face turned to concern. He turned his eyes to his door, which was still being hit repeatedly in a fast rhythm. Almost pushing Alice aside, Rex walked slowly towards the door, hands outstretched in front of him, he shushed the woman behind him every time she raised a chuckle at his odd behaviour. Rex stopped in his tracks, reaching into one of the drawers of his kitchen, a small drawer where the man hid a spare gun for moments just like this. Feeling around in the drawer, tossing around the empty sweet wrappers that built up in there, Rex felt nothing. The gun was gone! His eyes darted around the rest of his kitchen, as Rex rapidly tried to remember if he'd placed the gun somewhere else.

"Looking for thi-"

"SHhHHHHhhH!" Rex whispered harshly to Alice. He paused for a few seconds before realising what the woman was waving about in her hand, eating her breakfast with the other. "What are you doing with that?!" Rex continued to whisper.

"I found a gun in your drawer?! You think I was just gonna let you keep it in there for you to shoot me with it in the morning?!" Alice whispered back to him.

"Give me that!" Rex grabbed the gun from her, and shushed her again. He reset himself on his path towards the door, which was now being knocked very, very slowly. Each knock dragging into the next, whoever was knocking seemed like they were getting bored of Rex's slow response, or tired.

Finally, and very slowly, Rex took his position by the door, holding the gun up in one of his hands, reaching for the doorknob with the other one. Rex could practically hear the tense music building up in his head as each finger he reached around the doorknob seemed to take an age.

Rex, taking a breath to prepare himself, swung open the door, swinging himself around ready to shoot his intruder.

"Gwen!" The intruder, who indeed was Gwen, was slumped against the nearest wall, her hand still outstretched and in the knocking position. Her hair seemed unbrushed, with big black circles surrounding her eyes. Her t-shirt was crumpled, and had stains from that morning's breakfast on it. Rex's suspicions about his knocker being tired were certainly not wrong.

"I thought you'd want a coffee before work?" Gwen remained motionless, her voice monotone, and her eyes were hidden behind her dark fringe. "Cos I don't know about you, but I'm about to throw up in my mouth."

"Oh, so you've been drinking?" Rex had relaxed his guard, shoving his gun into his back waistband. Laughing at Gwen's ever worsening hangovers, he couldn't help but raise his voice just a little bit too loud, making Gwen grimace.

"Shut up and shift it. I want coffee." Gwen seemed to roll over against the wall, preparing herself to turn, and start the trek to work.

"Woah, wait! I gotta get changed, just hang there."

"Uuuurrrrgghhhh." Gwen, zombie-like, seemed to brush past Rex in the doorway, walking straight into Rex's flat.

"Wait, Gwen!"

"Jeez, Louise! I just wanna place to sit whilst you get your shit togeth-" Gwen turned her attention from Rex mid-sentence, and stopped immediately when she saw the woman sat on the sofa. "Rex? …Please tell me you didn't?"

"Oi!" Alice placed her finished bowl of breakfast back onto the footstall, sitting up slightly straighter in the presence of Gwen.

"Rex, can I talk to you in private please?" Gwen seemed to wake up in the reveal of this problem.

"Yikes, I get it, Girl. I've got some things to do anyway." Alice stood up, her eyes returned to the icy stares of when the Torchwood team had first met her. She disappeared into Rex's bedroom, reappearing seemingly only moments later fully dressed. Unlike Gwen's disgruntled appearance, Alice, with an equally late night and drinking, seemed just as she had always seemed. Her black curls not frayed or knotted, and despite wearing no makeup, her face was smooth and spotless, and she seemed to have a pleasant fragrance surrounding her, similar to Jack's 51st century pheromones. She was out the door, before Rex and Gwen could even muster up anything to say to her. In fact, even for a few seconds after she'd shut the door, and the sounds of her footsteps from the corridor had disappeared, the pair remained in silence.

"Why Rex, why did you sleep with the crazy woman?" Gwen didn't even look at Rex, when she finally broke the silence. But for his reply, Rex stepped across to the woman, reaching a hand onto her shoulder.

"I just really like her. And listen, we're not telling Jack about this."

That last sentence ignited a passion that was always within Gwen. From the pair's journey out of Rex's apartment building, to one of the nicer coffee shops near the bay, right up until the Tourist Information Centre entrance of Torchwood, Gwen repeatedly told Rex how stupid, idiotic, and absolutely reckless he had been. And how 100% she was so telling Jack. That woman was Jack's problem, and Rex wasn't gonna get her hands all over her, without Jack knowing.

"Knowing what?" Jack was busy looking over Gwen's Police board when Rex and Gwen arrived into the hub, overhearing the last bits of the pair's conversation. On the board, Jack had laid out profiles on the brothers, the entire family and the infrastructure of the various businesses they owned. Post-it notes, which had been scribbled on in almost indecipherable and tiny handwriting, were connected by pieces of string to all the other Post-it notes with equally indecipherable and tiny handwriting on. A tiny pot of pins, yarn, a pair of scissors, and a pile of pens and paper were all laid out in a pile around the board, ready for Jack to plan and organise.

"Seems like you already know quite a bit anyway?" Rex spoke first, interrupting Gwen before she got the chance to continue their long conversation.

"Urgh, trying to find a pattern in their lives, just a little idea I had." Jack turned the board over, revealing its totally blank backing. "Knowing what?"

"I think we should be looking at their connection with UNIT," Rex interjected again.

"And why this change of heart?"

"When we were at the party, that woman said that stuff about UNIT, that's must have been how they set the pair up. The brothers must have some kind of important connection there,"

"Good thinking, Rex! Get going on it!"

Gwen shot daggers over at Rex, and turned to Jack with a steely determination.

"Are you alright, Gwen?" Even Jack seemed concerned over the look in the woman's eyes.

"Gwen!" Rex growled at her.

"Jack, I have to tell you this." She grabbed the man by both his hands, unsure of how to break the news. She paused for a second, considering her words, and looking into Jack's ever growing eyes. "Rex took home that woman."


	17. Chapter 17

"ALICE?! MY ALICE?! HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID, REX?! HOW COULD YOU BE SO SELFISH?!" Rex and Gwen had never seen Jack so explosively angry before. His skin grew red, his face scrunched in anger with his eyes bloodshot and bulging. Every sharp sound produced a spit ball of uncontrollable rage from his mouth, as the rest of him gesticulated and paced around the floor of the hub.

"Selfish? I wasn't being selfish, I said I'd help her get her kid back!" Rex shouted in response. He tried to keep his cool in an attempt to stop Jack from getting angrier, but at the mention of the child, the Captain exploded towards Rex, grabbing him around the throat and forcing him up to the ground.

"YOU DO NOT GET TO MENTION HIM! YOU DO NOT GET TO EVEN TOUCH HIM! HE IS NOT A PART OF YOUR LIFE! AND NEVER WILL BE!"

"Yer, if you – Urgh- get your way!" Rex chocked on Jack's hands around his neck, but still he managed to smile through the pain of it. Rex was gonna show Jack that just because he was angry and secretive, didn't meant that he was gonna go easy on him. But Jack retaliated, picking up Rex's head by the neck, and slamming it onto the floor. Again and again, until Rex's skull started to leave smear across the ground. Again and again, until Gwen's screams for Jack to stop became the last thing that Rex heard before his brain gave out. Again and again, until Rex awoke again, his heavy breath back to life barely disrupting Jack's actions. Again and again, until Rex finally felt Gwen's smooth fingers against his neck, peeling away Jack's grip.

"STOP IT!" she screamed, attempting to throw Jack off Rex's body, only mildly succeeding. "We can talk about this! It just needed to be out in the open!" The two men panted heavily, Jack's fingernails grimy with blood from digging into Rex so hard. "Just… step away from each other, and we can think about what we have to do next. I mean, what are we really investigating here? The brother's interest in us, UNIT's interest in them, us, and Alice. We need a plan, a simple plan,"

The two men backed off each other, Rex taking a place leaning on the empty desk nearby, rubbing at the marks that were just fading around his neck. Jack seemed to pace in a circle, unsure where to place his hands before slamming his fist into the police board. The papers and the planning that Jack had spent the night on, flew wildly, spinning up in the air, and the board itself reverberating onto the ground, smashing into pieces. When the chaos calmed, Jack breathed, seeming to stop and think about what he had done.

"You're out of this Rex." Jack seemed to close his eyes, not even facing either of the pair when he let out his judgement, softly and calmly. "And if I find that you've been near her again, I will kill you."


	18. Chapter 18

"Rex are you ok?" Alice stroked down Rex's hair with a caring hand. The pair had met up again at Rex's flat, and were as close to "cuddled up" as two emotionally cut-off people could get.

"Jack is stubborn. He's just got to calm down and then he'll come crawling back. I've seen him do it with Gwen a hundred times,"

"And what if he doesn't? Or what if you don't want to be Jack's little bitch all your life, his little child?"

Rex's eyebrows peeked in interest.

"Are you saying that Jack owns me?"

"All of you Torchwood lot are the same deal. You're his children, that's even what UNIT call you. Deal with it." She took a sip from her nearby coffee cup. "Talking of which, how about we start taking them on?"

"What, UNIT? Is that what you do? Wake up one morning and decide that today is the day you wanna take them on?"

"Well I have your fire power now, don't I?" Alice smirked, lying back on the sofa, Rex's arm reaching around her. "Had Torchwood worked out what Hal's connection to this thing yet?"

"No, they were going to start though, why do you ask-"

"Do you have _any_ food in this place? All your cupboards are empty. If we're taking UNIT on, we're gonna need some good food, not your shitty box of cereal. How about a trip to the supermarket?" Alice stood from the sofa, her sudden change of conversation still taking Rex aback.

"Right, right, I'll get a jacket," Rex said, slowly rising from his set place on the sofa.

"Oh no, you are going to some fancy, gourmet, organic place, finding some lovingly hand-picked ingredients, and cooking us some dinner for tonight!"

That type of service is what Alice had become accustomed to, even under Hal's rule, so she found the weird normality of the supermarket almost beautiful. Most people go to exotic faraway countries in order to experience what seems like a fresh sun on their skin, but to Alice the flickering, off-coloured lights of the nearest Tescos, was enough. Letting the sliding doors whisk her inside, Alice breathed in deep. The stale air of the shop seemed to embrace her, lifting her through the aisles. Cans of meat, chemically-made bread, already rotting fruit and vegetables drooping in baskets surrounded her after every turn, and she seemed to reach and pick out items at random, almost in a dream. Alice had almost a full trolley worth of food, when she finally found who she was looking for all this whole time.

From a distance, Alice stopped and stared, staring intently at the end of the aisle. Gwen had paced around the corner, and was scanning the shelves quickly for something, eventually leafing through packets for instant coffee. Her search unsuccessful, she went to walk up the aisle, continuing her search for something to drink. No longer was Gwen forking out for £8 a cup at Torchwood's nearest coffee shop, she would just have to hide the little packets from Jack, and smuggle them into the hub. She simply couldn't get any work done without the magical shot of caffeine that Ianto always used to deliver, just at the perfect time. But that's when she too spotted the other woman at the opposite end of the shop.

The pair walked towards one another, meeting somewhere in the middle.

"In the whole of Cardiff, this is the nearest supermarket from your place, Rex's, _and_ the hub, knew I'd see you eventually."

Gwen stared at the strange women for a few moments, before realising what was being said. "Are you stalking us?!" Her eyes flashed at Alice.

"Don't think so small!" the woman hissed.

"Then how do you know where I live?!"

"Torchwood computers are easy. To. Hack." Alice leaned towards the woman, enunciating each word, mockingly.

"How about you tell me what you're doing buying Smiles?" Gwen retorted insultingly, lifting up the cold bag from Alice's trolley. "You act like you're the Princess of Darkness, yet here you are in a Tescos buying chips in the shape of smiley faces? You don't make sense" she laughed harshly. Alice stared down to her collection of food. Packets of crisps, sweets, chocolate, ham in the shape of bears, crinkle cut and smiley face-shaped chips, and other snacks and "lunchbox-ready" foods filled her selection. She must have really been in a daze when she was shopping, as she failed recalling making any of these decisions. Alice turned to look the other woman up and down, like an opponent, taking the time to pick her next thing to say, but that didn't stop her from stuttering over her words anyway.

"I-I didn't realise…" Gwen saw the woman drain of colour, and instinctively reached out her hand to hold Alice steady.

"Your son?" Gwen asked timidly.

Alice fainted.


	19. Chapter 19

In the back room of the degrading supermarket, Alice awoke. The room was tiny, with the 4 bare walls around her seeming to close in on her. The stereotypically lone light hung down from the middle of the roof, swinging ever so slowly as the blurs, which Alice could only just make out as people, moved around her. Their breathing causing the light to sway. The woman coughed back to life, choking on the stale air around her.

"Look I'm Torchwood ok, ring your manager, I'm dealing with it, and I need you to leave us alone… please." Gwen ushered the two supermarket workers out the door, the employees finding it impossible to take their eyes off the reviving Alice. After shutting the door, taking extra care to lock it behind her, she turned to Alice, "It's alright, you passed out whilst we were talking, do you want me to ring Jack for you?"

At the mention of his name, Alice seemed to jump, "No, I'm fine, this, this is nothing." She tried to pull herself up from the plastic chair which she's been propped up in, but sank back down as her arms buckled under her own weight. Gwen reached out a caring hand, wrapping her fingers around Alice's arm.

"I know whatever you've been going through has been tough on you. We don't know much, but we know about how Hal kept you. All locked up, for all that time. Your son… And having any kind of connection with Torchwood is always stressful," she tried to laugh that last comment off, but the more that Gwen learnt about the woman, mixed with the pale and sickly site that was now before her, the more she felt sorry for her. Gwen imagined the woman like a frail bird, slowly being crushed and crushed, now completely trapped in the windowless backroom of a dark supermarket. "I want to help you, Alice, you don't need to push me away."

"Please." Alice jerked as Gwen attempted to lay another attentive hand on the woman.

"I'm sorry. You look so pale, let us at least check you over back at the hub,"

"And how would your boss like that?"

"Jack is just gonna have to deal with it. You're sick, and as stuck in this mess as we are. I'm not going to let you suffer -"

"But Jack will. I know him, Gwen. And I know he kicked Rex out."

"Those two argue all the time!"

"But this time, Rex isn't coming back. He's helping me take on-" Alice paused, taking another long glance at Gwen, "He's helping me get my son back."

"Rex?!" Gwen backed away from the woman completely, almost pacing around the small room. "That doesn't sound like the cold hard Rex that I know,"

"He wants to go in guns a'blazin' but it's not going to work. If it did I would have done it years ago…" Alice paused, "I'm not gonna get him back…" She whispered this last thought almost to herself, staring off into a distance which didn't exist.

"Hun… Let me talk to Jack, Torchwood can help -"

"And what good will more fire power do against UNIT?!"Alice screamed out at Gwen, getting almost hysterical, as tears began to tear down the woman's face. The Torchwood agent looked away, the Alice which she'd met at the party was so strong, cold, hard… maybe she'd always been suffering inside, and it had to boil out somewhen.

"I'll help you."


	20. Chapter 20

Alice managed to catch Rex up over the phone whilst in the supermarket loos. The first time that Gwen had left her alone. That fancy gourmet meal for two was off the table for tonight, and instead Rex's apartment was converted into a mini hub for the night. The trio sat at laptops, using Torchwood's network to break into UNIT's computer systems. Scrambling around for files, Alice recovered maps of the base which she told the others she suspected was the place they were holding Ste.

"I had someone inside take pity on me, they told me the base name, just so I knew _something_. When someone dies, you always know where they are, you can be with them whenever you want. They'll always be buried under the same patch of grass for all eternity. They're safe, and at least you have that one thing to keep hold off. I still don't have that. Not really."

The group continued searching for any files containing any useful information, but continued without much luck. After a few hours of this, they seemed to slump down collectively on Rex's sofa.

"Let's try Martha." Gwen said with a tired yawn.

Alice's eyes sparked, "Martha Jones?"

"Yer, came to work with us for a while. She's not in UNIT anymore, but I'm sure she'll have her connect-"

"Do it."

The phone call was brief. Something about Martha being on the run from some type of humanoid lizard creatures, kept the call short, but between what sounded like frequent spouts of running, Martha was able to get across what she'd heard. For some reason, UNIT kept the operation secret, even from Martha, who, as she informed Gwen, still hired her from time to time to look at medical cases, or those that seemed a bit more "Doctor-y." But this one had been dismissed from her. Martha had been introduced to the idea. A child inside UNIT's prisons, UNIT's labs. The "subject" as UNIT said, had remained unconscious but preserved for several years after death. All of the company's experiments couldn't wake him, and so they'd reached out to Martha. The good doctor insisted they drop the case, and return the child, and to Martha's knowledge UNIT had kept to their word. Evidently not.

"Yer, and they had this weird name for him as well,"

"Name, what do you mean?" Gwen questioned down the phone, as she paced around Rex's apartment, with the mobile on speakerphone.

"Mickey! For god's sake!" Gwen, Rex and Alice heard Martha shout away from the phone, followed by the sound of falling rocks, "Like a codename, oh god, I remember it… Urgh, it's on the tip of my tongue! It was weird, something to do with Jack…"

"Jack?" Alice piped up.

"Probably to do with the immortality aspects of it all, UNIT do love Jack, and Torchwood for that matter." The line went quiet for a moment, "I remember! It was "Jan"! That was it, I'm sure!"

"Jan?" Rex replied, unbelieving.

"It's a mixture of Jack and… Ianto," Martha's excitement over remembering suddenly dropped.

"Thanks, Martha," Gwen replied equally saddened, "Call us back if you remember anything else." With that she hung up the phone, throwing it towards Rex. "I guess we look for that then…"

The search for the codename returned a few more bits on information, it narrowed the location down, to the medical and science labs of the main UNIT base.

"Well that confirms what Martha said." Rex felt defeated once again, but Alice was ready for the next step.

"I say we go in there,"

"What, just walk in there?"

"We know where he is, why not?"

"They'll gun us bloody down!" Gwen exasperated.

"If we go in, completely unarmed, they wont…"


	21. Chapter 21

It seemed a suitably cold day the next morning. The trio had all stayed around Rex's, Gwen on the sofa, with Alice and Rex in the bed. Rex hardly kept any blankets, let alone enough to keep everybody warm during the night, despite this, everyone seemed to sleep soundly, and they woke up refreshed to meet the same cold morning.

They ate breakfast together in silence, and drove all the way to the UNIT base in silence too. The area around the location was shrouded in woodland, and Rex took the opportunity to abandon the car they'd been travelling in, in a nearby ditch, obscuring it from any passing soldiers – at a glance anyway…

In something new to both Gwen and Rex, the group walked through the woods, catching mere glimpses of the base, until they stumbled across the entrance. Several guards stood patrolling with heavy machine guns strapped across their chests, pacing back and forth outside huge, imposing metal gates. Besides the gate was a check point office, becoming the office for another guard.

"Right, here we go then… Hope you're not having second thoughts," Rex whispered jokingly, not quite believing that he was just going to walk straight into a top secret Government organisation. He could never get out again. He could be stuck here, in Wales, for all of time under UNIT's lock and key.

"I've not given up yet," Alice jumped out from the trio's hiding spot, and strolled out towards the guards, hands in pockets. "Hello there!" She waved one-handedly towards the guards, who immediately readied their guns. "Me and my friends want to have a chat with the big boys." The soldiers laughed, and Gwen and Rex stumbled out of the woods to join Alice.

"They're just laughing at us, Alice!" Gwen and Rex whispered through gritted teeth.

Alice cleared her throat, "We are Gwen Cooper, Rex Matheson, and Alice Carter. Check your files and let us in."

The group were handcuffed and dragged through what seemed like mile after mile of corridors and top secret rooms. Rex and Gwen managed to walk in time with their captors, giving a harsh stare at every UNIT officer that passed. Wherever their current loyalties lied with Jack, Gwen and Rex weren't going to let Torchwood look like it was going down without a fight. Alice on the other hand allowed her body to go completely limp. Her feet and legs dragged alone the floor, getting caught under the soldiers' heavy boots. Her whole body acting as a dead weight under their hands, Alice even allowed her neck to simply loll from side to side. Nobody had a clue what she was doing, least of all Rex and Gwen.

Eventually the group were delivered to an almost separate unit of the building. The swish of an ID card opened a pair of solid metal doors. It changed the dark grey corridors into pristine white ones. UNIT officers became fewer and fewer, instead replaced by what looked like orderlies, dressed in white overalls, with matching doctors and nurses in white coats. The medical and science labs! Eventually the corridors turned into one open-plan, very large room, similar to the Rattigan Academy – the school for geniuses – Rex thought to himself. As a representative of the CIA, Rex had been invited to look through the facility a few years back, before its founder, Luke Rattigan – who made Rex angry just thinking about him – disappeared mysteriously after that whole… incident.

Desks and worktops were set out neatly around the perimeter of the room, with test tubes, chemicals, microscopes, and all kind of scientific equipment scattered across them. The scientists gathered around them seemed unfazed by the arrival of the group of prisoners, now kicked and scattered to the ground in the centre of the room.

"General Larrich will be here to see you." One of the guards securing the prisoners, remarked. "You shall act respectfully for a man of his authority. Is that understood?" He was clearly a very loyal soldier, probably up for promotion in a year or two, in fact the man had probably spent the majority of his life climbing his way through the ranks, believing totally and unwaveringly in the army, and in UNIT.

"And how are Torchwood doing this day?" The room seemed to fall into a stunned silence as the man, presumably General Larrich, entered from the far end, slowly strolling down the metal flight of stairs, followed by a line of UNIT soldiers. "Ladies and Gentlemen, if I could have all of your attention please." The man addressed the whole room, stood proudly halfway down the staircase, standing with his hands behind his back. His uniform was immaculate, and the man seemed highly decorated, earnt from years of service in UNIT. Years that had not taken him kindly, his stretched, sagging face seemed to be holding on only by the amount of Brylcreem scraping back his thinning blonde/grey hair. His whole face seemed to bulge out, and his cheeks were red with all those late nights guzzling down vintage wine. The man was probably only in his 40s or 50s, but his wrinkled features made him look more like 70. "The prisoners in front of you are Torchwood. Torchwood _plus_." There almost seemed to be an audible gasp. "The woman. The little girl." One of the guards holding onto Alice dragged her forward, she took a quick glance back to Gwen and Rex, the latter could see the worried look in her eyes, hidden from anyone else.

General Larrich continued his journey down the stairs, now walking towards Alice in the middle of the room. The dramatic tension he was leaving in the room was provoking wild thoughts to run through the viewers' heads, they'd become truly captivated by the man. On finally reaching the woman, he held out a hand, close to reaching under Alice's chin, but the repulsive man paused, continuing his speech instead. "The doctors would cry if I spoilt you. Everybody, the person who has just chosen to walk up to our doors is Alice Carter. Assuming you've all been keeping up with the files, I suggest you take this opportunity in regards to Jan."

"Don't call him that." Alice whispered through gritted teeth.

Larrich guffawed. "What did you say, little lady?!"

Alice stood. Or tried to. She scrambled onto one knee, before two guards grabbed onto both of her shoulders, pushing her down again, but Alice continued to answer back. "His name is not Jan. His name is Steven."

"Oh, you don't know, do you? We agreed to not go near you, Hal's family network spreads deep into UNIT, and he very much wanted a lady companion, and with him being such a great fan of Torchwood… you were the perfect match. You have been made safe all these years by your captor." He strained the last two syllables.

Alice spat in his face.

"You're a feral animal! You'd be kicked to the curb if it wasn't for those around you – your family."

"Take the Torchwood agents to the prisons, do whatever the doctors wish with Alice." Larrich went to turn away, but thought again, "I'm an old-fashioned man, so I'll grant you this, any last words?" The man smiled a sick smile.

The trio remained in a silent pact, and Larrich took one more dig towards Alice. "You're such a daddy's little girl… you all are." He beckoned for the guards to pick them up, ready to drag them off, never to be seen again. Maybe they should have gone in with a better plan, thought Rex.

But then… Rex felt the grip of the guard who had taken his 'cuffs start to loosen, and… reposition… no, it couldn't be... The guard fell to the ground, with the other that Rex had assigned to him falling too. The guards behind Larrich drew their guns.


	22. Chapter 22

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I promise I didn't do any of that, now!" Rex attempted to raise his arms up, but the strain of his 'cuffs forced him to stop. "It's not my fault that your soldiers aren't up to their jobs!"

A UNIT officer stood between Gwen and Rex started to chuckle under his breath. It was then that everyone seemed to grow aware of the plastic stickers in his hand. Even from a distance, you could see the plain, bold text written across the square patches, simply spelling out the word "Sleep." The officer looked up from the floor, looking straight into the eyes of the General.

"He's right, I'm afraid that was all done to me." His hand grasped around the forearm of the next officer who was holding onto Gwen, attaching another hidden patch to his body. The guard fell to the floor. The remaining UNIT officers further raised their guns, fingers teetering over the trigger. Gwen's second guard placed his handgun against his temple. "I would like to see you try, General Larrich." A boyish smirk crossed over the officer's face.

"Lower your weapons." Larrich caved.

"General?" one of the guards questioned.

"Lower your weapons, and do not question me!" The men begrudgingly lowered their weapons.

All, except one. Larrich seemed to be able to sense this disregard for his authority.

"Do not question me!"

"I'm afraid I am."

The prisoners seemed to sense a shift in the dynamic of the room, and the trio of prisoners recognised the rebel's voice.

"Jack?!" Gwen exclaimed. The Captain disregarded the UNIT cap that was casting dark shadows across his face, obscuring his characteristically shimmering blue eyes and juvenile smile. He pressed his official UNIT-graded rifle against the back of Larrich's head. The other guards around him aimed their weapons at Jack.

"You don't get to talk to my friends like that. You don't get to treat them like that, no matter how foolish their actions. They're gonna walk out of this place, just as they walked in, is that understood." He didn't ask it as a question, Jack was pissed.

The next few things that followed, happened all within a few seconds. Jack shot Larrich. The UNIT officers shot out a barrage of bullets at the Captain, and the doctors all ducked down behind their work benches, escaping the hail of bullets. Alice, Gwen and Rex merely grimaced against the sound.

That's when they realised that everything had stopped around them. The quartet of people left unfrozen hurriedly looked around them. They were right. Jack turned to look behind him, finding the bullets still in mid-air, moments from impact.

"We might not have much time, c'mon lets go!" Jack ran towards the group, running through the keys at his waist. "One of these must fit your handcuffs, I'll unlock you, and as soon as we're in the car I'm changing out of this godforsaken uniform."

"You're not taking your clothes off in my car!" Rex exclaimed, wriggling free of his bounds.

"All this time together and you're still worried about -" Jack cut his witticism short. "We're not doing this now, we have to get out of here."

"Wait, where's that other guard?! He's gone!" Gwen, getting freed from her handcuffs noticed this disappearance, spinning around the rest of the room. "He must have been the one to do this, we need to find him!"

"Now is not the time, Gwen." Jack dragged Alice up and onto her feet. "C'mon!" The group ran through corridors, the whole complex frozen in time, and out through the front gates.


	23. Chapter 23

The car ride back to Torchwood was tense. Rex was driving, with Alice in the passenger seat. Gwen and Jack were shoved in the tiny space in the back, as the man ripped off his UNIT uniform, wriggling into his normal clothes.

Apparently, whilst looking through the security cams from UNIT, of which Jack never provided an explanation, he spotted Rex's car. Expecting that they were up to no good, Jack located the car, dumping a change of clothes in it, and then proceeded to go undercover. Somehow the 6ft charismatic American, who had initially wondered through the bordering woods in just his underwear, attracted no attention.

"But what about the other UNIT officer, the one on our side?" Gwen asked, pleading for an answer.

"I don't know. Nothing to do with me," Jack admitted. "When we get back to the hub, we'll work it out, hack into their security again,"

"With me in tow?" Alice interrupted. The car fell silent.

"This isn't your life, Alice. But I'm going to give you a choice." Jack's voice was apprehensive. "Do you want your new life, or do you want to go home?"

"You know what I want to do, so why are you asking?"

Jack didn't reply.

"I want to go home. I want my old life. Dictated by a school timetable, and football club," Alice seemed to stare wistfully out the car window, the words running out her mouth, the harsh "b" popping on her lips.

"Ste didn't like football?"

"Yes he did, he just hid it from you cos he thought he wasn't good enough."

"What?"

"He wanted to wait until he was really good, to tell you. Until he was Captain."

The car was silent for the rest of the journey.


	24. Chapter 24

The harsh light of the hub hit the group as they entered, but the Captain instantly picked up that something was wrong. He pulled his arm out in front of Alice, Rex and Gwen, stopping them from walking into the base.

"There's someone here," He whispered as he pulled out his trusted Webley. Just then, the others noticed the eerie chill in the air, tickling and pricking at their skin.

"Don't worry! I'm not armed!" A voice called from the shadows. It was strange, a peculiar mix of accents. A harsh pronunciation left the air with a twang of American, but the man's ability to glide through the vowels sounded characteristically English, bordering on the Welsh. And there was something else as well, something that the others couldn't quite put their fingers on, but Jack could. His eyes darted around his temples.

"Tu chi sei?" Jack called out.

"Mi chiamo Jan," The young man stepped out from the stairwell of the medical bay, revealing himself to the Torchwood team. "Mio zio," he smiled, "Mia madre," Suddenly the boy collapsed, Jack and Alice ran to catch him in their arms.

"Ste?!" They both screamed, cupping the boy's head in their hands. The UNIT officer seemed to appear younger and younger as he crumbled at the sight of Jack and Alice. Jack grabbed him, carrying the child back down to the medical bay.

"Ste, can you hear me alright? What's the first thing you remember from UNIT? Ste?!"

"Stop asking him all these questions! Ste, are you alright?" Alice reached a caring hand towards the boy, stroking down his hair. He laughed, biting down into his lip. It was a sad laugh.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry, but… I can't stay,"

"What?!" Alice started to pull away instinctively.

"Look, just look at me! I should be 16 in your time, do I look 16 to you?!" The young man was right. Although he did look young, he seemed more in his early 20s. A 5 o'clock shadow was spreading across his face, his previously light blonde hair had turned darker, almost black in places, and the whites of his eyes had dulled, no longer showing the excitement of childhood. He was strong, with clearly defined muscles and cheekbones, things which are messy at puberty, but matured by the 20s. "Things are complicated, and one day I'm going to explain but I can't today, that's not how it goes,"

"How what goes?!"

"This event." Jack interrupted. "You're from the future, aren't you, Ste?"

The boy lowered his head, "I don't go by Ste now. Mi chiamo Jan,"

"Why?"

"Out of habit, I guess,"

"Sorry to break up the reunion, but what the hell is happening? Who the hell are you?" Rex interrupted, leaning at the top of the spiral staircase leading to the medical bay.

"My name is Jan,"

"The codename that UNIT gave Ste Carter?"

"Yer… I prefer Jan. Mi chiamo Jan,"

"Yer, about the language, what exactly are you saying?" Gwen joined in the interrogation.

"It's Italian. My grandmother was an Italian immigrant, moved to Britain after the war, so we all learnt Italian,"

"She hated it," Jack smirked.

" _My name is_ – mi chiamo. Go on," His eyes lit up towards Gwen and Rex, beckoning them to repeat the phrase. They did. Grudgingly. They seemed both freaked out by Jan's openness, and by the fact that he already seemed to know them. Alice somehow seemed to pick up on this.

"What happened to you? Why do you know them?"

"Mum, I'm sorry,"

"Stop saying that! Why do you keep saying that?!"

Jan looked over to Jack for something, but the Captain seemed just as desperate for answers as Alice.

"Right now, I'm in a bunker somewhere in UNIT, playing with their scientific equipment. The first thing I remember is waking up in some medical bunker. It took 5 years for my brain to repair from the damage done by my death. So at 15 I woke up completely perfect again, except UNIT were there, not you, or Jack. They noticed that after I woke up, my brain kept… going. Absorbing knowledge, remembering and developing, long story short I started working for them. UNIT had no idea about my biology so I feigned things. They thought that my coma, my death, it had erased everything, so they told me about Torchwood, but they painted you as enemies, even the Doctor. And I had to be better than all of you, so I had to work harder and harder. I invented small things at first, those sleeping patches, they work like nicotine patches on steroids, seeping drugs into the blood stream and nervous system, rendering any person I stick them on, unconscious, and well then I started to get a bit… influenced. They continued telling me stories about you, I read all the files UNIT have on you, and well…"

"You can mess with time?" Gwen whispered.

"And you talk a lot!" Rex exasperated.

"Sorry, I've not had a lot of company apart from UNIT officers. And, well, I escaped UNIT around this time, but you don't track me down until much later, until well… I shouldn't really tell you, don't want to risk the chance of paradoxes and that,"

"You escape UNIT on your own?" Alice whispered.

"I can travel through time, I can make it through a couple locked doors, Mum," Jan's bright blue eyes seemed to shine and sparkle as he explained his life spent under UNIT's supervision, finally getting to reveal himself in the correct timeline.

"So, let me get this straight, you're Ste Carter, except now you're a super genius time traveller, called Jan?" Rex piqued in.

"You're a lot smarter in the future, you know… which, is where I should be returning," Alice wrapped herself around the boy, holding onto his shoulders tight, unable to let go.

"You don't have to go, Ste," Alice gasped against his body, still sat politely on the side of the bed, feet dangling over the edge, with his arms clasped together awkwardly between his mother and him.

"I do, and I'm sorry, but you just have to wait a few more years, then the time lines will match up, I promise!" Ste loosened one of his arms, reaching out to pat his mum on the back, a form of comfort, more than Ste had been used to giving over his more recent years.

"Alice…" Jack attempted to pull the pair apart, tentatively. "Let me talk with him, Alice," Jack looked up at Rex and Gwen, still peering over the medical bay's stairway, "Alone."


	25. Chapter 25

The young man looked very different to the little boy that Jack used to swing around in his arms. The little boy who used to run towards the door, each time he knocked. The little boy who the captain would play soldiers, with nothing more than plastic dolls and cuddly toys on the bedroom floor. The little boy who would rush to tell him about school, his favourite TV shows. The little boy who sat, cross-legged on the living room floor, listening hungrily and questionably at Jack's wondrous stories and fairy-tales. Jack couldn't have been happier with Ste Carter.

But Jan was a different person. He was just as inquisitive and child-like on the surface, but something was off, Jack could feel it.

"…Jan?" Jack was aware of the similarities in the name, causing him to almost bite his tongue with each mention of it.

"You can call me Ste if you want, Uncle Jack," Jan laughed. "I've missed you, you know, Uncle. All those stories you told me, and UNIT, they've stuck with me. I always wanted to be like you, I just never realised, well I never realised anything," He chuckled again, raising up from off the bed. Jan paused, "You're not laughing."

"No, Jan. You should never have looked up to me like that. You should have never died, never been put into that position." Jack said curtly.

"I have had training, you know!"

"As a UNIT officer!"

"Is that all you see me as?! I'm not part of them, I'm better, Ok! All the lessons you taught me, I've listened to them. I've done my research!"

"You know about paradoxes. That's it! I didn't teach you any lessons, you can't idolise me, just… just listen to your mother."

Jan sat speechless.

"I am here in my capacity as Torchwood." Jack looked away, and studied the computer screens around the medical bay, "We've scanned you, you're perfectly healthy. Just eat more regularly and you won't collapse as often." The Captain glanced back at Jan, "Say goodbye to your mum, and then return to your timeline. When you're back there, get rid of whatever you're using to time travel."

"Ja-"

"Do it now. I'll be checking up on you until I've made contact with you in the future, is that understood." He didn't ask it like a question.

"And what if I refuse." Neither did Jan.

"Then I'll be forced to make you forget everything. You won't remember your life after or during UNIT, just your childhood."

"What, so I can be "normal"? Why are you so obsessed with that?!" Jan rose from the bed, attempting to reach out towards Jack.

"Think of your mum. Of your grandmother. Remember what she said…"


	26. Chapter 26

Alice paced back and forth in the confines of the corridors of the hub. She bit at her nails and scratched her arms almost simultaneously. Rex and Gwen stood silently to one side, flicking their eyes between one other, silently communicating when to cast an eye towards Alice. "I know you're staring." Alice finally broke the tense silence. There was a pause before Gwen and Rex decided what exactly they were going to say… "Look, me and Rex, we haven't got a clue what's going on, we're being left out of loop here and frankly me and Rex thing we should be… let in." Alice and Rex seemed almost taken back by Gwen's words, with Alice refraining from her pacing, composing herself to face Gwen. "Do you really feel like that?" Alice asked. "I'm not sure what Jack would do if I told you the full story. Ste's come back, except not really, and now I have nothing, no mission, no son, and all you want is gossip," "Alice," Rex placed a hand on Alice's shoulder, but she pushed him away. "At least this shows I'm not totally my father's daughter, couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery, or maybe I'm just like him, everything I do completely fails… There must be something in this stupid place…" "Something?" Gwen questioned. "I just need _something_ , Ok!" Alice screamed at Gwen. "I can't stand this place" She groaned.

"Yer, we're all Jack's bitches," Rex smirked. "But look how quickly we ran over to your side. You played us, didn't you? You knew exactly what buttons to press to get this all in motion. Learn it from Hal did you?" Alice launched herself towards Rex before he had the chance to spread a self-congratulating smile across his face. She grabbed him round the collar, pulling him close to her face, their noses scraping against each other. Gwen let out a gasp before readying herself to separate the pair.

"You know _nothing_ about me!" Alice warned through gritted teeth, spit spraying in Rex's face, "So Shut. The. Fuck. Up." Alice pushed him away, against the wall of the corridor.

"You fucking bitch. You weren't Hal's prisoner, you were just watching him from the shadows!" Rex rubbed the back of his head which was sore from the cold embrace of the wall. Blood trickled down his fingers, and he felt his tongue swell in his mouth. He spat the blood expanding behind his lips at Alice. The woman smeared the droplets over the rest of her face and neck, breathing in slowly as she did so.

"Everything I said to you, everything I _did_. Fuck. You."


	27. Chapter 27

Gwen and Rex stood in silence before choosing to chase after Alice. It wasn't long until they reached the main hub area, but upon their arrival, the pair were regretting their choice.

Jack stood at the top of the medical bay steps, ducking down occasionally to dodge the variety of instruments, tools, desk items, pens, keyboards, computers, and everything else not nailed tightly down which were now being flown around. Alice tore at the bundle of wires around Rex's desk, before ripping apart the monitor of his computer, spinning wildly as she allowed the components to fly out her hands. Gwen's desk had already been stripped bear, and from what the team could see the medical bay had been stripped already. Rex and Gwen surveyed the chaos of the hub, before noticing one crucial element.

Jan was nowhere to be seen.

Alice screamed as she tore apart the desk itself. Ripping out drawers, and letting the papers inside swirl and fly around her. She twisted off one of the metal legs, letting the desk completely collapse, and flung it towards Jack. It flew through the air, and Jack sailed down the steps to avoid the spiralling metal pole which came straight towards his head. Jack remained silent as Alice spouted a tyrant of abuse towards him and her whole situation.

"You're a complete and utter shit! You can do nothing! You are pointless! You wreck and you ruin everything you touch! You are poison! I hate you!" Alice ranted on, each sentence cutting deeper than the last, but still Jack was unmoving, but finally Alice reached the pinnacle of her dissection. "I should have listened to Mum, all this time, and I should have listened to her! I could have saved _everyone_ if I'd just listened! I fuckin' hate you, I despise you! You make me want to rip everything apart, Dad!"

She made a path for Jack's office. Running up the stairs before unleashing her destruction on the room. To the soundtrack of Alice crashing her arms against the clutter and piles of paperwork and ornaments in the office, the Torchwood team were left in the eye of the storm.

"D…dad? She called you, _that_? Is that true?" Rex asked, thinking through everything that had happened, everything he and Alice did…

"I remember now… Her name was Alice, it's been a long time since you've mentioned her… I didn't think… What happened, Jack?" Gwen asked quietly.

"I sent Jan home. It's where he needed to be, and it's painful now but you'll be reunited one day. You'll both make sure of that." Jack was emotionless in his speech, like he was repeating a mantra over and over again in his head. "That's what I told Alice as she ripped apart the medical bay. I'm gonna let her tire herself out, then I'll replace everything – clear it all up,"

"Jack…" A big crash interrupted Gwen. Glass fell and scattered around the base of the hub, and the team beneath dropped to the floor, covering their faces from the shards.

"ALICE!" Jack shouted, curtly. There was no reply. "Alice?" Jack nearly whispered now as he ran up the stairs to the office, pushing open the door and seeing Alice.

The woman was curled up on the floor, back facing the door, sobbing quietly to herself.

"I hurt my hand on the glass. It's bleeding…" She wiped the tears from her face, as the rest of Torchwood stood behind Jack at the entrance to the small, now shattered room, it's large but shrouded glass side completely fallen apart.

"C'mon Alice, we're help clean you up. Then you can go home, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Jack edged towards the girl as she continued to cry. She shook her head sideways, her small movements barely visible to Rex and Gwen, but crystal clear to Jack. The man paused, then walked over to grab something from his desk. Although it was slightly skewed, his trusted desk was still standing. Jack pulled open one of the drawers, and picked out a small row of pills. "Take one, you'll feel a lot better. They're just sleeping pills, don't worry," He smiled a sad smile before tentatively sliding the packet towards Alice. He hovered his hand over her shoulder, but paused.

"Just let me go," She whispered.


	28. Chapter 28

_7 Years Later…_

Rex ran through the emptied school building, as Gwen and Jack threw comments and information at each other from opposite areas of the building. After a car chase through the town, the Vhak had dispersed themselves throughout the school, and Rex's tracker was beeping on every corridor he turned down. They were everywhere, surrounding him.

Rex bagged a few in Jack's weird "prison transporters" things, or whatever it was that Jack and Gwen had decided to name it. They were simple devices, picked from the wreckage of some Rift rubble, all you had to do was click a button, throw, and then boom! Whatever was contained within the force field of the device was transported to some long-distant prison planet. Or at least that's what the team hoped, they didn't think about it much when they found out it worked against the Vhak. Gwen said they made her skin crawl as much as Weevils did…

Gwen and Jack had managed to capture the rest of them, and the trackers could find no more. The team retreated out of the school, and were met with pupils, teachers, and some local press and police filling up the playground. The Captain laid on his best charismatic smile for the teachers in the smartest suits, it wouldn't hurt if the cameras caught a few glimpses of his beaming smirk either though. Gwen took to the local police, fraternising between her old work colleges, and good ol' Andy. The pair seemed to almost disappear when in their full work mode. Each player had their part, and Gwen and Jack could both play them perfectly when required.

Rex stood aimlessly around the edges. He studied each group of people in turn, before turning round and reviewing the school building once again. It was small, communal, quant but run-down like the rest of Cardiff, there was nothing extraordinary about it really. He moved on, spying down the small pathway that ran perpendicular to the school's tall fences. Through the small bars, Rex could see two people taking a slow walk. Rex couldn't help himself.

He found a small gate over his side of the playground, and quickly and quietly made his way through to the side street.

"I thought it might be you," he called.

Alice took her eyes off the much younger Jan, and turned to look at Rex. The pair were stood together, holding hands as they had been walking.

"Hello!" Jan separated from his mum, reaching a hand out towards Rex. "What's your name?"

"Ste!" Alice snapped.

"Oh, I keep forgetting, not meant to talk to just random people. Ignore that question!" Jan smiled the same boyish grin as Jack was bearing, just 200 yards away on the other side of the fence.

"Jan, how about you walk to the end of the path, I'll be along in a few moments,"

"Ok, Mum!" Jan smiled as he continued on down the side street, giving a small wave to Rex as he passed.

"He hasn't met you yet. It's soon though, he's getting closer to the age he was when we first met him. He bought the same t-shirt the other day,"

"And how are you?" Rex asked.

"Normal," Alice replied, smiling.


End file.
